Mom's Everywhere Were Wrong!

I went for a 4-mile run this morning on the Venetian Waterway Trail in Venice, FL.  As I left the house it began to rain  and my first thought was, “I guess I need to turn around”. 

Immediately something or someone, maybe my inner child, spoke up, encouraging me to live on the wild side - So I proceeded…in the rain.

It wasn’t a heavy, drenching rain.  It was more than a drizzle.  It was rhythmic. and it was  inviting .

As I continued I found a comfortable pace. I wasn’t breaking any personal speed records, but I wasn’t trying. I wasn’t inconvenienced by the rain - it was soothing, and joyful.  I was running but not struggling.  In this rain I was living, I was healing, I was cleansing, I was rooting, I was blooming.  I was wondering….why don’t we play in the rain more often?  I felt more energy after the run than before it.  Does common sense really tell us to not play in the rain?  Or, somewhere along the way, did the dread and inconvenience of the clean-up get placed ahead of the enjoyment of one of life’s simple pleasures like singing or playing in the rain.

Not to disrespect mothers, but Ive decided that moms everywhere were wrong.  I’m so glad that today I ignored my mom’s voice in my head telling me to “have enough common sense to get out of the rain”.  Ive realized that common sense is playing in the rain.  Common sense is in most ways, enjoying life through the eyes of a child. 

Maybe I’m just getting old, but There are no little blessings in life… just God’s invitation to life…that in itself is a blessing beyond measure.

Annette…come meet me outside…in the rain!

The Chaos

Sometimes I ask God questions. Then there are times when I question God. I don’t question His existence, but at times I can be confused about what he's doing with my life and in my life. I don't want to question His heart, His faithfulness, or His intentions, however I do question the strange twists and turns that life takes. I wonder and even wander in what feels like chaos.
It’s in these times that my mind goes back to the beginning. Not my beginning. THE BEGINNING! God created the heavens and the earth and He created man in his own image. This man Adam, was simply a creation, but was not yet a living being until God breathed into him his own breath. Adam existed, having been made from the elements of the Earth. Oxygen existed before Adam was created, so that when it was time for Adam to breathe on his own he could function as a living being. The existing particles that God brought together from the ground were for-ordained for a purpose and they took on the form of Adam. Chaos existed before the earth existed as we know it. In order for there to be chaos there had to be elements within the chaos. Chaos is not nothingness. If there was nothingness it could not exist as chaos. Chaos is disorder. Chaos is having no boundaries. Chaos has no design and no form to the human eye, but this chaos was not an absence of materials for God to work with. God in his wisdom created all the elements, all the gasses, all the liquids, all the solids and laid them out in the expanse of the universe. He then took what appeared to be a mess and begin to create the Earth and the moons and the Suns and other planets. Out of The Chaos, Beauty took form. Out of Chaos something was created that only God could create.
Those times that I question God, when life feels chaotic, I get to remind myself that if God took all the elements involved in the chaos before the creation of the Earth, and made the Beauty and the Majesty that we see and experience, then what can he create with the chaos that is me and my life? I’m reminded that God does his best work when only the raw elements exist. God does his best work when there seems to be no outline, no definition, no blueprint - other than the vision of his heart that he holds for me as his son.
When I can't see through the chaos, He can and does. When I don't understand what he's doing, He does and is orchestrating the chaos into patterns and designs of love, life, and light. So my question becomes, “will I trust him in the midst of the chaos?”
Will I let him arrange the elements of my life so that the end result is Glory for him. When I try to save or create my life I lose it, but when I surrender my life, I gain so much more. When I try to control the chaos it only becomes more chaotic. In spite of all I do, in spite of all my attempts the chaos remains. But when I trust, and I let go of the chaos and the fear of life in disarray, the Creator creates, and brings to life something that never existed before. He makes all things beautiful, from our surrendered chaos.

Brokenness - The Beginning of Something Powerful!

In today’s church lingo, the word “broken” has become the go-to term for the definition of our state of being.  The term is used in songs, sermon’s, books, articles and yes… blogs.  We use the word to describe our condition(s). 

Before you read much farther, I do want to clarify something upfront! If you are currently brokenhearted and hurting from wrongs done to you, take note that your situation is different than what I referring to here.  Thankfully, Jesus does address your situation in Luke 4:18 and states that He has been sent to heal the brokenhearted.  In Psalms 147:3 God promises that He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.  There is hope and healing for your broken heart.    

In this writing, I’m referring to the church attributing every negative issue to our broken state.  We attribute our failures, our inabilities, and our physical imperfections to our brokenness.  We have accepted the mindset that all the imperfect things about ourselves should be attributed to our brokenness.   However, brokenness, as the scripture mentions is quite different though. The word is used properly when humbling ourselves in surrender to God with the purpose of Him flowing through us, for his glory.

This world we live in is broken.  Before coming to Christ we were broken.  God does not see us as broken beings, if we are in Christ.  As a matter of fact, scripture tells us that we are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10).  This claim by the church that “we are just broken People” feels like a “Yeah but” against what God says about us. Don’t get me wrong - we are to be broken!  Brokenness is not a result of the exterior happenings that make us feel less than or not enough.  Nor is it the weariness we experience due to us holding onto some expected outcome.  Brokenness is not the emotional trauma that we have endured and carried ourselves, only to find that our strength was not enough.   It is not the excuses we make for ourselves. The brokenness the Bible speaks of is completely different.  Grace, (the power to be and do what we can’t be and do in our own strength) covers our inadequacies caused by the fall in the Garden of Eden and our old nature. 

The Apostle Paul writes in the book of 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, “when I am weak, then I am strong,” (as one who is depending on His grace).  The external things that destroy the faith of many people are what Paul considered pleasure and delight! How? Because he knew God’s grace would strengthen him. In personal weakness, God’s grace imparts strength. His power is perfected in our weakness. Weakness without this grace is misery and continued weakness.

Scriptural brokenness is not the results of something that happens to us.  True Brokenness results in Us happening to something!  It’s not being victimized by circumstances but is being dependent upon and submitted to God’s plan and power in order to destroy the works of darkness and bring light to those situations. Life’s truest satisfaction comes when He increases and we decrease (John 3:30).  For it is God who works in you (us), both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

“There is something of great value within us, but we are like pots made of earth and clay.  This power is greater than any other power. But it comes from God, not from us.  We have much trouble, but we do not give up.  We are in hard places, but help always comes.  (2 Corinthians  4:7-8 World English New Testament)  

In biblical times clay pots that contained valuable items were typically sealed.  In many cases there was no way to sample what was inside a container. The container had to be broken to access the treasure within.  As it is with the vessel that this scripture speaks of, we must be broken, willingly, to allow the power of God within us to be manifested.

 Notice that circumstances and hardships listed in the scripture above are not what is referred to as brokenness, or the cause of brokenness.  There is hope and help in all circumstances.  Breaking is what comes from our humility to God’s greatness and goodness.

Scriptural brokenness is intentional.  It is deliberate with a purpose in mind.  

 The night Jesus was handed over to the soldiers, He took bread. When He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take this bread and eat it. This is My body which is broken for you. Do this to remember Me.” (1 Cor. 11:23-24).

Jesus intentionally gave Himself to be broken for us!  Brokenness for the believer means to die to self so that His abundant life can flow through us, bringing life to others.  Brokenness is necessary to reveal purpose.  Every Christian’s purpose is about the Kingdom of God and living for something bigger than ourselves, for those other than ourselves.

As the popular saying goes, “Think broken – Feel broken – Act broken”….  Okay, I admit, that’s not a popular saying.  I’ve never heard that before now, but there’s truth in those words.  Brokenness is not a state of being that needs healing.  It’s the beginning of something powerful.  As long as we keep telling ourselves that we are broken, in the sense that we are focusing on our faults and circumstances, we will live in that reality.   Let’s stop using the word “Broken” as an indicator of what’s wrong with us and realize it is a powerful reference of humility and submission to God’s reign, which leads to revival and restoration for ourselves and others.